May: 18 albums you need to hear this month

Rebekah 'Fear Paralysis' (Soma)

Deep in the midst of Soma’s 25th anniversary, Rebekah’s debut LP aims to go big on her trademark club-ready annihilators while still exploring the creative freedom an artist album can offer. ‘Breakfast With Jeff’ feels manic with its anxiety-inducing bleeps and creeping low-end, ‘Breathe’ uses climatic productions to send you spiralling and ‘1997 Reprise’ is a minimal techno highlight. But the pummelling staccatos, sinister rattles (‘Again’) and enveloping journeys (‘Requiem For A Dream’) mean that while the paranoia-prompting themes of the album don’t necessarily feel disjointed, the story it tries to tell can occasionally seem fractured due to its penchant for peak-time pursuits.

7/10